Secret Crimes by Michael Hambling.
This is book 3 of the dci Sophie Allen series. 
This is my first book by this author and it won't be the last.  I really enjoyed it. Great story.  Some good characters. 4*.

This is the latest instalment in the D.C.I Spohie Allen series. In this book Sophie's daughter discovers the body of a tramp in some woods, obviously Sophie and her team are the ones teying to discover who the dead man is and all the questions surrounding his death. As the story unfolds questions are raised and items are found that leads them to a discovery that he was once an important part of a commune, the questions keep flowing the mystery deepens.  A fabulous read that I thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Excellent book as always from Michael Hambling.    The murder of a tramp starts a search for his killer and goes back to the days of a commune on the Quantock hills in Somerset over a decade ago.   Starring DCI Sophie Allen and DS Barry Evans, keeping the reader enthralled from the first pages.

An interesting murder mystery with so many twists, it baffles the mind at times. The trail of clues leading back to over a decade ago seems to be leading the law into a merry go round, that culminates at the end with there being even more questions than answers.

This is my first Michael Hambling novel, and it's a very good one. There are a lot of ratings already so I'll just recommend it.

I really appreciate the copy for review!

Had no idea this was a series,  but it stood alone and I enjoyed it. Bringing out my amateur detective skill into play , lol. 
A body of a tramp is discovered in the woods, and the tramp was a member of a mysterious commune some ten years earlier, as Sophia begins an investigation she tries to find the killer and bring the case to a close. Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC

This book lived up to the standard I have come to expect from Michael Hambling. His storylines have just the right amount of suspense to keep the reader gripped without being too convoluted. It is a breath of fresh air to read about a main character who is respected by her superiors, loved by her team and has a happy home life. One of the detectives is a trans female and another is gay but although we get a bit of background about them the focus as always is on the crime, in this case the murder of a homeless man. It makes no difference to Sophie and her team that this was someone living on the fringes of society, they are as committed to the case as they would be if the victim had been a high court judge, a fact that is made clear to a junior officer early in the case. As always I finished this book looking forward to the next one.

Review posted on Goodreads and Amazon

I was provided this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is not the type of book I normally read, however, I absolutely loved this book. It was very interesting from start to finish,

I hadn't read any of the former books to this series and I didn't feel I needed to before reading this one as it works well as a standalone story. 

I enjoyed reading about the Trans aspect of this book too as I thought it was a good and honest interpretation of what a Trans person may experience in day-to-day life. 

I enjoyed the storyline of the homeless man and his whole back story although I do wish the author would have delved deeper into his want of turning to that lifestyle. I understand why he did it, but if someone had the money he had I highly doubt they would choose that life for themselves and would go down different routes e.g. body guards, private eyes etc. That is what made this story a little unrealistic for me, unfortunately. 

I did enjoy the storyline though, it was interesting to guess who the murderer was throughout with each snippet of information provided. This is also one thing that didn't sit right with me though, I felt that the author only told us some of the information that was discovered then towards the end just blurted it all out in the interviews with the three suspects. I felt it was quite wasted as the story could have gone on far longer in my opinion. There was so much still to discover and I feel the authors thought process was something like I'm running out of word count now so let me just wrap it up for you. 

The only bit of the story I wasn't fond of was the end, as is it right for me to interpret that the young lady (18ish years of age) who found the homeless man in the first place is now dating one of her mothers colleagues? I didn't really understand that at all, unless I've interpreted it completely wrong.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read and it was lovely how I could just read one or two chapters quickly as they were quite short and I was short on time whilst reading this book so it fitted in perfectly for me.

Silent Crimes was a well-written police procedural with a slow and steady pace. The plot had some twists and turns and cleverly structured in general. The characters, both related to police, victims and suspects, were fleshed out, which made the book more human. What made me like the book even more was that it had two LGBT+ characters in the shape of Rae, MTF trans and Lydia, lesbian.

Another great book by Michael, I have enjoyed reading this series.  It had me gripped till the end.
Thank you

Silent Crimes is the eighth book in Michael Hambling's series, but the first book I read--after reading it, I picked up Dark Crimes, the first book. And yes, I'll be catching up on the other books when I can.

Silent Crimes works well as a stand-alone. Jade Allen, DCI Sophie Allen's daughter, has been keeping an eye on a homeless man and his dog. When the man doesn't show up for several days, she seeks him out in a wooded area where he sometimes camped--and finds his body.

Other than his first name, Jade knows little about the man. There is no identification on him, and the police have a difficult time even finding his surname much less a motive for his murder. However, someone had been around asking about a tramp fitting his description before he disappeared. Who was he trying to avoid and why?

Piecing together the man's identity and background and why he left a profitable job to live off the grid is a slow process for Sophie Allen's team, but eventually a connection is made to a former commune and a missing woman.

My favorite kind of mystery is the gradual unraveling of information, and Michael Hambling does this well. While waiting for the next book, I can catch up on previous entries in the series.

NetGalley/Joffe Books
Police Procedural. Oct. 30, 2019. Print length: 229 pages.

Jade Allen is a friend to a homeless guy that lives out in the woods.  She finds him dead and reports the murder and her mother DCI Sophie Allen is shocked because she didn't know her daughter even knew the guy.  They try to figure out why a homeless guy would be killed because he did not own anything of value.  He had once been a senior member of a commune, was this why he was killed?
This mystery series is very well written and has lots of twists and turns.

Thank you NetGalley and Joffe Books for the eARC.
DCI Sophie Allen's daughter Jade has been looking in on a tramp and his dog, bringing them food when she realizes she hasn't seem him for a while and goes to check on them at their hideaway in the woods, where she finds the man dead and his dog wounded.
Sophie and her team have difficulty finding out the identity of the man until their investigation leads them to an old commune, now disused.  Finding ex members to interview slowly builds a picture of what went on a decade ago and another death is discovered, a skeleton not far from the commune. The case is a tricky one, but it's solved eventually through hard work and persistence.
This is the 8th in the series and another good one.  I'm curious about the next one; hopefully it will focus more on Jade, a character I really like, especially after the last chapter...

Silent Crimes by Michael Hambling was a gripping and well written read, with lots of twists and turns throughout. This is the eighth book in this Detective Sophie Allen and her team who are working in the Dorset Police Violent Crime Unit. 
I did not realise it was the eighth book ...........I really enjoyed it, as it was the first book I had read. 

Detective Sophie Allens's teenaged Daughter Jade, has befriended a guy called Paul Prentis a couple of years ago who lives in the woods by their home. He is a reclusive tramp and was living off the grid. She checks up on him regularly. She then discover's him dead. Then realises it her friend Paul.
As Detective Sophie Allen and her team investigates they find out he is an important member of a mysterious commune that had a three-year existence on a farm on the Quantock Hills in Somerset more than decade earlier.

Why was he living off the grid? 

Where did the commune go? 

Another body with links to the mysterious commune is discovered. Detective Sophie Allen and her team investigate deeper and  discover what exactly went on at the farm all those years ago.

Why are people still dying because of this mysterious commune?

Who is killing them?

Will they catch the killer before they kill again?

I will be reading more of these books by Michael Hambling.

These are the books in this Detective Sophie Allen and her team series.

Book 1: Dark Crimes
Book 2: Deadly Crimes
Book 3: Secret Crimes 
Book 4: Buried Crimes 
Book 5: Twisted Crimes 
Book 6: Evil Crimes 
Book 7: Shadow Crimes 
Book 8: Silent Crimes

Big Thank You to NetGalley, Joffe Books and the author Michael Hambling for my ARC in exchange for an honest review

My first encounter with D S Sophie Allen in charge at the Dorset Violent Crime Unit, but hopefully not the last. An intriguing storyline based around the murder of a tramp befriended by Sophie’s daughter but involves murder committed over a decade ago and the lives of people from a commune from that time. Keeps the reader intrigued to the end. Great story line.

This is number eight in the series of books featuring DCI Sophie Allen and her team working in the Dorset Police Violent Crime Unit and was the first book I have read in the series. Unbeknown to Sophie, her younger teenage daughter Jade befriended a tramp a couple of years ago and has been keeping an eye out for him and his little dog ever since. She sometimes took him food and even found a old shelter in the woods for him to live in. Concerned that she hadn't seen him for a few days, Jade goes in search of him in the woods and finds him murdered. Sadly she can tell police very little about him apart from his first name. The man was clever and articulate, and clearly had a good reason for wanting to disappear off the main grid of life. But what was he running or hiding from? Together with DI Barry Marsh and DC Rae Gregson, Sophie has a difficult time ahead to identify the man and the motive for his killing. Eventually Jade remembers the man's hiding place, and some items are found which gives detectives a lead to a commune or cult in the neighbouring county of Somerset disbanded some years ago with a cloud hanging over it. Could past secrets from this strange band of residents finally be revealed and expose exactly what did happen all those years ago? I very much enjoyed this story. It was straight down to business with a murder in the first couple of pages which is always a good start for me! All the main detectives featured were pretty straightforward (even Rae who is trans), and none seemed to be dragging awful personal problems around, giving them lots of time to concentrate on the case. As the initial case opened up, the plot became quite involved and there is a lot of content in the story. The plot is clever and the suspects all have multiple sides to them. With lots of turns in the story it was hard to decide who was guilty and who was innocent almost right up to the exciting and surprising end. Although part of a series this book can very easily be read as a stand alone. Personally I have already bought books 1-3 and 4-6 which are available now in boxsets to catch up on the adventures of this enjoyable series, and I look forward to more. 5*

Crime hits Detective Sophie Allen's house via her teenage daughter, who discovers the body of a man living off the grid. He has lived in the woods for a couple of years, and Jade had befriended him by bringing him food every so often, whatever he needed.

Sophie and her team are trying to identify the man, but nothing is ever easy. Jade remembers him telling her about a hiding place in a tree. The hidden package gives the team the first lead they've had.

What they discover is that he was a member of a commune... or cult ... more than a decade earlier.

Why was he off the grid? Was he running from something ...or someone? What happened to the commune .. and its members?

Although eighth in the series, this is easily read as a stand alone. I've enjoyed how the recurring characters have aged and changed over the years. Sophie is a terrific character ... she's edgy, tenacious, and like a mama bear where her family is concerned.

This is well written with twists and turns and secrets that have been hiding in the shadows for many years. The characters are finely drawn, warts and all. The story line is structured well and leads to an unexpected ending.

Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Books 'n All Promotions / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I really enjoy this series of books featuring Detective Sophie Allen. When her daughter, Jade, discovers the body of a tramp in woods, she is called to investigate. Sophie discovers that the tramp was a member of a mysterious commune some ten years earlier, she tries to find the killer and bring the case to a close. Full of diverse characters and well written, this is a good read. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC

With clues coming in little by little and the puzzle taking shape slowly over the course of the novel, Silent crimes is a solid read if you're looking for a good mystery to sink your teeth into. 

When Jade Allen, daughter of detective Sophie Allen, discovers the body of a dead tramp in the woods; her mother and the rest of the detective team in Dorset set about investigating his death. Because of the victim's lifestyle, though, information about him and his past is hard to come by, at least until a mysterious hidden package containing a few of the belongings he found important was discovered. Detectives are led to seek out members of a commune which broke up over a decade ago, and the revelations that follow will shake the investigation to the core. No one is quite what they seem, and everyone has something to hide. What happened all those years ago, and why is it still affecting lives today? 

This was an enjoyable read. We see the steps the police take on their investigation almost from start to finish, and because we follow several different characters, we are easily able to grasp all the clues without the need for stagnant scenes where one investigator shares information with the others. We've traveled along and gotten the information firsthand. This approach keeps the action moving along at a nice pace. We also get a glimpse into the minds of the suspects and innocent bystanders which gives us a well-rounded view of the situation although not so much as to give anything away before we're ready. 

My one complaint about this novel is the lack of character building. I don't feel as if I really know these characters at the end of the book, and I would have liked to know them better and to understand their relationships to each other more clearly. However, having said that, I have to acknowledge that this is, I believe, the 8th book in this series and the first one I've read. So it's possible that there was more character-driven writing in the previous books. I sort of doubt it though just judging by the writing style.

Bottom line: I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an easy-to-read mystery. It's not one that will keep you up at night, but it is still a fun read, and I hope the series continues.

Another compelling read in this well established series with the return of several characters and a complex case containing current and historic victims.